


The One with all the Doctors

by offscreenmusings



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Grey's Anatomy AU, and as much medical inaccuracies, on and off again relationships, with significantly less deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26557609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offscreenmusings/pseuds/offscreenmusings
Summary: Kara's starting her seven year surgical resident at National City General. Lena's the head of the neurology department. A one night stand leads to more feelings than either were expectingora grey's anatomy au
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 155
Kudos: 628





	1. Year 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my mutuals who've pushed me to finally start writing this AU! 
> 
> Just a warning before you start! I don't have any medical experience, so most medical scenes I've borrowed from grey's so it's as medically accurate as grey's lol if you're hoping for something more accurate this probably isn't the fic for you!

Kara’s officially a doctor. A doctor in training, but a doctor none the less. She graduated top of her class. She’s been accepted into the top residency program in the country. And she gets to work with her sister. Which, is honestly the best part.

And now, she gets to celebrate.

Alex mentioned this bar no less than a hundred times while Kara was in school. It’s one of her favourite haunts; close to the hospital, good atmosphere, and most importantly, cheap drinks. She constantly tried to get Kara to go out with her, telling her it was a good opportunity to casually meet the doctors she would work with after she graduated. Only to be rebuffed in favor of late night study sessions.

Now Kara makes her way there alone, while Alex works a double shift.

It takes Kara two tries to find the right place. The door is tucked around a corner with no distinct markings that Kara walks right past without noticing it. Once she’s inside, there’s no mistaking that she is in the right place. The pink neon sign that hangs behind the bar practically screams “SCHOTT’S” in her face.

The booths that line the walls are pretty standard brown leather booths Kara is used to finding at a pub. Even the stand alone tables scattered through the place look normal. If the place was empty, Kara would say it looked like any other small pub. With the exception of the bright neon sign.

But the place isn’t empty, and it doesn’t feel like any normal pub. The televisions that would normally be turned to a variety of sports games, are currently playing a variety of late night news channels. The lights are dimmed respectably, but Kara can tell there is a disco ball somewhere in the place. And the music, Kara would have expected a live singer, or maybe something generic playing low enough that people could hold a conversation. Instead, the place vibrates with music so loud she almost wants to cover her ears. It’s exactly what she would expect from a club downtown, and looking at the crowd of people dancing between the tables Kara almost thinks that’s exactly where she is.

\---

It’s easy to let go with this crowd.

Kara dances in the middle of the small pulsing mob, laughing and carefree. Faces blur together in a haze of alcohol as she dances with person after person that approaches her, until she’s face to face with the sharpest pair of green eyes she’s ever seen.

They’re much closer than Kara expects. One small movement and their noses could be touching. They’re so close that Kara can see hints of blue in her eyes that surround the bright green.

Letting the crowd press them together, Kara feels a warmth rush over her body that rivals the thrum from the alcohol. Every touch burns into her skin. Every sway of their bodies brings a smile to her lips that she just can’t stop.

It’s not long before Kara is nodding along to the movement of red painted lips, and follows those green eyes and raven hair out the back door of the bar. Taking the lead as soon as they step outside.

Kara laughs against warm, insistent lips as they fumble their way through the apartment door. Using her heel to kick the door shut behind them, Kara presses forward, directing the brunette towards her bedroom. Her hands drag over flared hips, before she’s reaching lower to cup the brunette’s butt. Giving it a squeeze, Kara stumbles on a box as she lowers them to the mattress on the floor. Cursing herself for not having gone shopping for a bedframe sooner.

Hands fly as Kara shoves away boxes, trying to give them more space as the brunette lifts her hips to wriggle free of her painted on jeans. Rolling ungracefully onto her side, Kara thrashes slightly in a desperate attempt to lose her own pants, grunting when she hears breathless laughter beside her.

Swinging her leg back across the brunette’s hips, Kara tugs her shirt over her head, throwing it somewhere into the room before she crashes their lips together.

It’s a little sloppy at first, uncoordinated, desperate. Then Kara tilts her head just so, licking into the brunette’s mouth. Pulling back, Kara sucks the brunette’s bottom lip into her mouth, tugging gently with her teeth before soothing it over with her tongue. A small gasp has Kara’s body rocking down on the woman’s stomach without shame.

When a hand moves to tangle in Kara’s hair, scratching at the back of her neck, Kara moves with new vigour. Stretching along the brunette’s body, Kara slides a thigh between bare legs. One hand braces against the mattress as the other pins down her partner’s hip as she rolls her own, relishing in the pants of the woman writhing below her in search of more pressure.

Dropping her head, Kara follows the sharp jawline down the slope of the brunette’s bared neck. Occasionally leaving behind pink spots with her teeth. Spurred on by the hair tugs she receives in return Kara moves lower, pressing a trail of kisses down the centre of her chest. Willfully ignoring how the brunette twists below her, trying to direct Kara’s mouth to focus elsewhere on her chest. Her hands fisting tighter with a defeated groan when Kara just moves lower.

Barely touching, Kara drags her lips from one hip to the other. Lips ghosting over soft skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in her wake.

Taking mercy on the twitching muscles, Kara nuzzles into the brunette’s stomach. Kissing at the swell of her belly before her tongue dips deep into her navel with purpose. Quickly moving away when the brunette’s hips buck towards her, Kara laughs when the brunette huffs and nips sharply at the freckle on her hip.

Without warning, Kara slides down further, guiding both legs over her shoulders.

“God, you’re beautiful.” Kara murmurs as she watches the brunette’s chest heave, arched slightly with her head pressed back against the mattress and her eyes shut tight.

“So beautiful.” Kara whispers as she finally guides her fingers through pink folds, parting them slightly, moaning at the sight of the brunette already wet and swollen.

“Is this okay?” Kara looks up at the brunette as she slowly strokes her thumb from her entrance to her clit and back.

“Yes. Oh, my god, _yes.”_ Kara groans as the hand in her hair tightens, desperately trying to pull her in closer.

Pressing into wet heat, Kara follows her thumb with her tongue. Teasing her entrance, before licking up and over her clit. Working slow circles around her clit, Kara takes it into her mouth, sucking. The brunette’s panting turns into seeking moans as she arches into Kara’s mouth.

Reluctantly, Kara pulls back as she presses a finger against the brunette, watching as she slumps back to the mattress with a whine, her chest rising and falling heavily.

“Tell me how you like it?” Kara pants as she presses in to the first knuckle, slow and teasing.

“Tell me how you like it.” Kara repeats, as she watches her finger pull out, covered in wet before sinking in again, using her other hand to hold down twitching hips.

“Fuck.” The brunette plants, finally looking down at Kara, eyes blown wide. “Two. Please- two. God. Hard, fast. Fuck -Whatever you want, just-“

The last words turn into a cry as Kara pushes in fully, giving the brunette a moment before she pulls out, thrusting in again with two fingers.

Kara thrusts in gently, until she finds the spot that makes the brunette cry out again. Pressing onto her elbow, Kara thrusts into the spot with precision as she uses the flat of her tongue to stroke over the brunette’s clit. Only, slowing down when the brunette clenches around her, her back stiffening mid air before lowering with a shudder.

“Can you take another?” Kara holds still as the brunette comes down, grinning when her walls flutter around her fingers at the question.

“I think you can.”

The woman whines, betrayed by her own body as her hips tilt up towards Kara as she teases a third finger.

“Please, please, please. More.” The brunette begs as she throws an arm over her face. Crying out when Kara pulls out, thrusting back in with three fingers. “Fuuuuck.”

Humping the bed, Kara moans as she tips the brunette over the edge again. Not stopping until she has the brunette shuddering a third time. Finally coming to a stop when a hand pushes at her forehead.

“I can’t. I can’t.”

Kara wipes her chin off on her bicep as she slowly crawls back up the brunette’s body, scattering kisses over shaky muscles.

Flopping to the side, Kara holds herself up on one elbow as she looks down at the brunette, eyes still closed. Not fighting temptation, Kara brushes away raven locks sticking to the woman’s forehead.

“That was- _fuck_.” The woman pants, finally opening her eyes to fix Kara with a look that has her laugh catching in her throat.

“I can’t move yet, but…” Kara sputters as the brunette pulls at her leg, maneuvering Kara’s body until she's hovering above her lips. Looking down at dark green eyes, Kara knows she’s in trouble.

\---

When Kara wakes up the next morning, she is naked, alone, and sprawled out over her mattress, laying beside a stack of boxes that teeter precariously on edge from where Kara shoved them the night before.

Rolling onto her back, Kara groans as her stiff muscles twinge in protest. Whining as she rolls into a patch of sunlight filtering through open blinds, throwing an arm over her eyes in protest.

The new position isn’t great, but Kara can already feel herself falling back to sleep. The quiet rumble of her phone vibrating along the floor going ignored in favor of deep steady breathes.

When her phone starts to vibrate again, Kara throws out a searching hand with a grunt. Randomly patting at the floor until her fingers land on the smooth surface of her screen.

“Hello?” Kara answers without bothering to look at the caller.

“Where are you?”

“Alex?” Kara starts to sit up, blinking rapidly as her head spins with the sudden movement. “What do you mean where am I? I’m at our apartment, is everything okay?”

“You’re late. It’s already eight, Kara!” Kara winces and jerks the phone away from her ear. “We were supposed to meet for coffee before the interns’ meeting, remember?”

“Shoot!” Kara scrambles to her feet, her elbow catching on the open box at the top, sending it crashing to the floor.

“Shoooooot!”

“What was that?” Alex asks over the phone, sounding equal parts annoyed and concerned. “Seriously, Kara, are you okay?”

Kara gingerly rubs her elbow as she stares at the mess. “Just perfect. I knocked over a box.

I’ll be there as soon as I can.

Bye Alex!”

“Kara!”

Kara hangs up her phone with a grimace. She has definitely not heard the end of that.

Clutching her phone, Kara tips the fallen box, pouring out more of its contents in search of a presentable outfit. Making a pterodactyl noise in victory, Kara pulls on a clean button down and the first pair of jeans she finds. Shoving her feet into a pair of leather boots, Kara runs through the apartment trying to tuck in her shirt as she wrangles her hair into a presentable ponytail. Thankful that she had the foresight to pack a bag before going out for the night, Kara finally grabs her helmet and brown leather jacket hanging by the door and sprints from the apartment.

Boots echo off the stairwell as Kara runs, her bag bouncing against her hip. Checking the time, Kara barely pulls on her helmet before she has her bike in gear and speeds from the underground parkade.

Alex is standing beside the hospital doors when Kara comes jogging up with her helmet tucked under her arm.

“You’re cutting it close.” Alex purses her lips as she hands over her cup of coffee for Kara to take a couple hurried gulps and steps in with Kara’s speed walk.

“Dr. Grant is about to start with the first year residents in the basement. If you hurry, you’ll make it.”

Kara nods as she hands back the coffee and jogs down the hall, ignoring the wary glances of passing nurses.

“You’re welcome!” Kara hears Alex shout after her as she dives into a closing elevator.

Thankfully it’s empty as Kara hits the button for the floor with the residents’ lounge, or locker-room as Alex more accurately describes it. Kara bounces on her toes as she stares at the red numbers above the door, watching them slowly rise with impatience.

As soon as the doors ping, Kara is rushing forward. Her advance stopped abruptly by a body waiting on the other side, sending papers flying along the worn linoleum floors.

“Oh god! I am so sorry!” Kara immediately falls to her knees as she tries to grab as many papers around her as she can. Trying to straighten them, Kara gives her watch a glance.

“Here you go!” Kara chirps as the hands over a pile of paper poking out in all directions, finally looking at the person she nearly knocked over.

Familiar green eyes stare at her in surprise before they narrow dangerously, quickly moving on to indifference before Kara can barely blink. Kara’s mouth gapes as she stares at the woman. Last night’s wavy hair now lies straight against her shoulders. Her makeup is lighter this morning, with the same bright red lipstick. This time it matches a red blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt, almost completely covered by a starched white lab coat. She looks Kara dead in the eye in her ridiculously high heels. She looks so different from the night before, but just as devastatingly attractive.

“Kara.” The woman says it like a question and a statement rolled into one, and it has Kara searching for the woman’s name in return.

“Lena?” The woman offers, her eyes narrowing again as her lips twitch slightly.

Kara’s face grows hot as she opens and closes her mouth. It only gets worse when the woman stiffens, fluttering her hand dismissively when Kara doesn’t show any recognition, taking the papers from Kara and quickly rights them.

“Has a nurse helped you yet? Or, are you visiting someone?”

“Actually…” Kara checks her watch again; she can still make it. “I’m one of the new residents. I’m just…running a little late.” Kara quietly admits, fidgeting with her glasses as Lena raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her.

“You never mentioned.” Lena replies, her voice tinged with amusement that lights Kara up from head to toe.

“We weren’t exactly exchanging life stories.” Kara mumbles as she checks her watch a third time.

“I really need to go…I’ve already slept in and I need to…” Kara points down at her clothes that she still needs to trade for a pair of scrubs, ignoring how she can feel her ears burning, “you know.”

“Of course.” Lena steps around her, and presses the button to call the elevator. “Cat doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

\---

All things considered, Kara is only five minutes late.

She slips into the teaching room hidden away in the basement without acknowledgement. They haven’t started yet. Residents still mill about the room in their matching pale blue scrubs, looking at equipment with bright, yearning eyes. As the door closes behind her, Dr. Grant calls the room to attention with a slight rap of her knuckles against a chrome counter.

Kara’s only met Dr. Grant twice before, once when Alex first started, and when she had her interview. Kara finds she’s just as intimidating now as she was then.

She stands at the front of the class with a presence bigger than any of them, despite being inches shorter even in her high heels. Her blonde hair brushes the top of her shoulders in perfectly crafted curls. Her lab coat is slung over the counter beside her, leaving a cobalt dress and a thick gold necklace on full display. Her blue eyes track around the room with such purpose that Kara doubts if there is anything that happens in this hospital that Cat Grant doesn’t see.

“Welcome, to National City General. I shouldn’t have to introduce myself, as I helped interview most of you. But for those of you that need the reminder. I am Cat Grant, your chief of surgery.” Cat begins walking around the room, looking at each resident long enough to make them squirm.

“Two months ago, you were in medical school being taught by doctors. Now you’re standing at the shore, ready to dive into new waters. The next seven years you spend as a surgical resident will be the hardest of your career. Some days it will be cold, and a little lonely, and the journey will be hard. You will be pushed out of your comfort zone, some of you may even be pushed to your breaking point.” Cat pauses in front of Kara, watching, analyzing, waiting. Just as Kara is about to finally fidget under her scrutiny, Cat moves on to the next resident.

“But rest assured when you reach the other side you will have become a new person and a better doctor. Take a look around.” Dr. Grant pauses as the interns try, and fail, to subtly look around the room.

“Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave.

But everyone here, they are not your competition. You, are your only competition. How well you do, that’s up to you.”

\---

Dr. Grant takes a moment to remind them that they’ve each been assigned to an upper year resident before she leaves them alone in an awkward silence.

“I have Dr. Danvers.” A woman next to Kara whispers as she leans slightly in her direction, breaking the tension in the room. “I hear they call her Medusa.”

Kara snorts, as she turns to get a better look at the woman.

“I’m Nia. Nia Nal.” Nia flashes a friendly smile that Kara can’t help but think looks a little tired already.

“Kara-“

“Dr. Olsen?” A hopeful intern pops up beside them, deflating when Kara shakes her head, giving them both a second look before trudging away.

“Kara Danvers.” Kara stretches out her hand, as she adjusts her glasses with the other.

“A coincidence, or is there a relation?” Nia asks as she firmly shakes Kara’s hand, not breaking eye contact.

“She’s my sister.” Kara’s chest puffs out proudly, faltering slightly when Nia stares at her.

“Your sister?”

“Yes?” Kara slowly takes back her hand, flexing it slightly.

“Good genes.” Nia murmurs as she gives Kara a once over. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because our supervising resident is your sister.”

Nia and Kara stare at each other for a moment as Kara’s smile starts to grow, quickly turning into a laugh, blonde curls shaking as Nia smiles.

“I wouldn’t dare.” Kara grins, happy to have made a friend.

“Did I hear you say you have Dr. Danvers?” A soft voice with a lilting accent comes from behind Kara’s shoulder.

Kara turns, blinking rapidly as she comes face to face with a beautiful brunette with a shy smile.

“Imra Ardeen.” The woman supplies with an amused smile when Kara doesn’t reply right away.

“Imra Ardeen?”

Kara immediately bristles as a man with a lazy smile and perfectly coiffed hair throws an arm over her shoulders, making Imra stiffen.

“Do you know who this is?” The man points at Imra as he looks between Kara and Nia, scoffing when they stare at him with blank looks.

“ _Imra Adreen._ The _lingerie_ model.”

Nia’s eyes narrow dangerously as Kara straightens, crossing her arms as she glares at the man.

“Mike Matthews.” The man smiles charmingly, his arm never leaving Imra’s shoulders. “I guess we all have Dr. Danvers.”

“I hope your sister turns him to stone.” Nia mumbles as the Mike makes no effort to hide the way he stares at Imra’s ass as she moves to walk beside Kara and Nia.

\---

“Ardeen! Danvers! Matthews! Nal!” Alex’s voice rings out over the group of interns now shuffling their way through the upper hallways of the hospital, “With me!”

Kara races to drape her stethoscope around her neck, hands clenching around both ends as she eagerly follows Alex to the nurses’ station. Giving her a little wave that Alex ignores in favour of looking them each over.

“I have five rules. Follow them, and we’ll be fine.

Number one, don’t suck up. It annoys me.” Alex grabs a clipboard as she motions to the pagers on the counter. “Number two, these are your pagers. Nurses will page you on them. Answer them at a run. Not a walk. A run.”

Alex walks down the hallway at a quick gait, leaving Kara and the other interns to collect their pagers and rush to keep up. The four of them nearly colliding as Alex comes to a sudden stop, nudging open a seemingly random door with her heel.

“Your shift is 48 hours. That brings us to the on-call rooms.” Alex motions to two sets of bunk beds. “Don’t get used to them, attendings hog them – sleep where you can when you can.

Rule number three, if you see me sleeping. Do _not_ , wake me up unless your patient is dying.

Rule number four, your patient better be alive when I get there. If they aren’t, you have killed someone, and you’ve woken me up for no reason.”

Kara nods, she knows these rules, she helped Alex come up with them. It had been funny at the time, thinking of her sister being all intimidating when all she could see was her sister wrapped up in a soft sweater and stuffing her face with ice cream. Now she wasn’t laughing.

Imra raises her hand hesitantly, almost lowering it immediately when Alex’s eyes snaps towards her.

“Question?”

“That was only four rules,” Imra says quietly, “you said there were five.”

Just as Alex opens her mouth, five pagers go off.

“Rule number five, when I move, you move.” Alex says as she starts to sprint down the hallway, leading them towards the roof.

“What are you waiting for, grab a gurney.” Alex huffs, waving at a bed as she looks out the window in the door.

“Here we go!” Alex shoulders the door against the wind the helicopter creates, holding it long enough for Kara to catch it as she tries to steer the gurney as the other three push.

“What do we have?” Alex yells over the sound of rotating blades as the patient is transferred, still seizing, onto the bed.

They move the 15 year old girl quickly inside, the five of them directing her to a private room. Alex calmly calling out directions.

“Imra, ten milligrams of diazepam I.M.” Alex turns to Kara scrambling on the side. “The white lead Kara. Remember righty, whitey.”

Soon the young girl stills and the four interns look at Alex in relief just in time for a doctor to walk calmly into the room, taking the chart Alex already holds in the air.

Kara watches as he scans the first page, flips quickly to the second page and hands the chart back.

“Dr. Danvers, let’s shotgun.”

“Yes Dr. J’onzz.” Alex nods, and Dr. J’onzz is gone as quickly as he arrived. “You heard him, that means we need to run all tests.

Nia you’re on labs, Imra, patient work ups, Kara you get Katie in for a C.T. She’s your responsibility.”

Kara sighs as Nia looks up at her over the patient.

“I guess I won’t need to worry about taking it easy on you.”

Kara just smiles and shakes her head.

“Um, Dr. Danvers.” Mike walks forward with the same smile he had on earlier, “What do you want me to do?”

Kara holds her breath as she watches Alex slowly look Mike over, top to bottom, before she smiles sweetly. “You’re on post-ops.”

\---

Kara is exhausted by the time she gets to sit down to eat her lunch. It turns out that having a seizure doesn’t slow a 15 year old down. Katie talked the entire way to her C.T. scan, telling Kara in excruciating detail about how she sprained her ankle and interrupted her pageant training. It didn’t help that Kara had got lost long the way, creating a whole new topic of conversation.

“I hate her.” Kara huffs as she slams her plastic lunch tray against the table, startling Nia and Imra from their conversation. “She’s annoying and, and a pain in the butt.”

Nia tries not to laugh as she lifts two hands in surrender.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Nia doesn’t hold back this time, laughing as she picks up her pudding cup. “You’re just so sunshiny, I wasn’t expecting you to be so outspoken.”

Kara release a puff of air from her cheeks, her forehead scrunching at Nia.

“How’s your day been?”

Nia shrugs, “Katie’s labs came back clear. Mostly just running around.”

Imra pushes at a limp piece of lettuce when Kara looks at her. “I think Dr. J’onzz hates me. I kept missing when I tried to put in an IV. I’m pretty sure everyone thinks I’m just an airhead at this point already.”

“Interns.” A gruff voice calls out over the lunch room just as Kara opens her mouth to say something comforting. “As I’m sure some of you already know, there’s a tradition at NC General that the intern that shows the most promise gets the honor of the first surgery.

Imra Ardeen. Congratulations.

You get to scrub in for an appendectomy this afternoon.”

The room is silent after Dr. J’onzz leaves, all of the interns looking at each other with a mix of surprise and jealousy.

“So… he hates you?”

\---

It’s only been 7 hours and Kara can already feel the fatigue setting in when she returns to Katie’s room. Her feet are sore, her lower back hurts, and Kara feels the tension building in her neck.

“Is our daughter going to be okay?”

Kara stops in her tracks as she looks between the man and woman now standing in Katie’s room, both looking at her with the obvious concern of parents.

“Will she need an operation?”

“Can you tell us what kind of operation?”

Kara looks between the parents, slowly edging backwards toward the door.

“I’m not a doctor. I mean, I _am_ a doctor. I’m just not Katie’s doctor. But I can go get them!” Kara rambles as she reaches the door frame, and bolts, not waiting around for an answer.

“Alex!” Kara hisses when she spots her sister, jogging down the hall to catch up with her power walk.

“What’s up Kara?” Alex asks without slowing.

“Katie’s parents are here, and they’re asking questions.”

“Okay.” Alex pushes a door and pauses. “And?”

“Questions I can’t answer Alex.”

“Right.” Alex nods, understanding. “Well, the case has been handed over to Dr. Luthor, so you should ask her to talk to the parents.”

“Right.” Kara nods rapidly and turns on her heel before she pauses again.

Kara knows the name. Everyone in medicine knows the name now, if they didn’t already. Luthor Corp was the biggest medical equipment supplier in the country, until the CEO Lex Luthor was charged with submitting fabricated test results to pass federal regulations after it was discovered patients were dying due to faulty equipment.

Kara vaguely remembers something about a sister and mother who were thought to be involved, but eventually let go when there was no incriminating evidence. Last Kara remembered hearing of them, the mother, Lillian Luthor, was still the chief of surgery at Metropolis General. She never heard anything more about the sister.

“Dr. Luthor?” Kara asks, waiting for Alex to provide some thing more. But all Alex does is point past the door she holds open.

“Oh boy.” Kara whispers unaware that her sister has left her alone while she stares across the room at a familiar brunette, now dressed in navy blue scrubs with her hair tied back into a high ponytail.

Kara jolts when green eyes turn towards her, sensing her heavy stare. Unsure what to do, Kara quickly turns on her heel, fleeing into the nearest stairwell.

“Kara?”

Kara tries not to throw her head back and groan when she hears her name being softly called from the door just above her.

“Kara?” Lena finds her on the landing below, gripping the metal railing. “Is everything okay?”

Kara tries not to stiffen as a hand rubs gentle circles between her shoulders. Slowly relaxing, Kara sags into the railing, releasing a deep breath.

“Long day?” Lena laughs as she pulls back her hand, pressing her hip into the railing.

“You could say that.” Kara breathes, “Is it always this hard?”

“Yes.” Lena replies without any preamble, eliciting a scoff from Kara.

“Sorry.” Lena shrugs, “I didn’t think you’d want me to sugar coat it. If it helps, it does get more fun?”

“Fun?” Kara turns her head towards Lena.

“Trust me.” Lena smirks.

They stand in silence for a moment before Lena clears her throat. “I was actually hoping we might run into each other again today. I wanted to talk about last night…”

“Oh?” Kara perks up, suddenly feeling much better.

“I think we should pretend it never happened.”

“That what never happened?” Kara turns fully this time, mentally jumping in victory when a flush begins to creep above Lena’s scrubs. “You sleeping with me last night?”

“Kara.” Lena admonishes.

“Go on a date with me Friday night?” Kara blurts, unable to stop herself.

“Kara…” Lena says even softer this time, her head tilting in a way that makes Kara’s chest start to ache. “I’m an attending, you’re an intern. It would be inappropriate…”

“Please don’t look at me like that.” Lena begs as Kara’s eyes flit across her face.

“Like what?’ Kara smiles as Lena rolls her eyes.

“Like you’ve seen me naked.”

“I have-“ Kara bites her lips to stop from laughing as Lena lifts a hand to cut her off.

“Dr. Danvers.” Lena nods respectfully after a moment, about to take her leave when Kara calls her name.

“Katie’s parents actually have some questions.” Kara says when Lena raises her eyebrows.

“Right.” Lena flutters the hand towards to the door, sending Kara into motion. “Let’s go then.”

\---

Kara slides into the seat next to Nia in the gallery overlooking the operating room. Imra stands below, scrubbed in and ready for surgery, looking a little paler than normal.

“Ten bucks says she messes up the McBurney.” An intern behind Kara snickers, high fiving the guy next to him.

“Dr. Model? Nah, twenty dollars says she leaves the operating room in tears.” Mike scoffs as he munches on a bag of trail mix.

“Fifty says she pulls it off.” Kara hears herself saying, silencing the gallery. Shrugging when she sees Nia giving her a look. “She’s one of us.”

The room falls back into a general murmur as Imra steps up to the operating table. One hand held out palm up.

“Scalpel.” Imra’s voice crackles over the intercom, as all the interns whoop in solidarity. Dr. J’onzz silences them all with a sharp look up at the gallery.

Imra swiftly makes her first cut with a couple words from Dr. J’onzz as he hovers discretely behind her shoulder.

Kara inches to the edge of her seat as Imra moves through the motions with ease. Everyone claps and hoots when Imra slowly lifts out the appendix, dropping it into the chrome dish a nurse holds beside her hand.

“Very good Dr. Ardeen.” Dr. J’onzz voice barely picks up over the intercom as he speaks. “Now, invert the stump into the cecum and simultaneously pull up on the purse strings. _Gently_.” Dr. J’onzz replies when Imra starts to tug, her hands slowing accordingly. “You don’t want to break them.”

With a nod Imra quickly finishes without issue. Dr. J’onzz nods appreciatively behind her.

“Now all you have left is to close up.”

Imra nods as a nurse offers her a needle and thread to complete her sutures.

Kara and Nia break out in applause when Imra finally pulls the thread tight and cuts it clean, finishing off her first surgery without a hitch.

A couple groans rumble around them as bills exchange hands, a couple people nudging Kara’s shoulder her to give her money.

When Imra finds the interns after her surgery, they’ve all been herded into a side room. As she enters the door, Mike spots her first. Standing with his hands out as he dramatically shushes everyone.

“Shhh…” Mike holds a finger to his lips, whispering dramatically. “We have the great Imra Adreen in our midst.”

Pulling a magazine from the pocket of his lab coat Mike flips it open to the centre fold, holding it open as he turns around the room presenting a picture of Imra posed in lacy black lingerie. A couple interns whistle and applaud, more bang on the tables as a few rapidly glance between the photo and Imra standing alone in the middle of the room.

“Knock it off.” Nia and Kara step forward simultaneously as Nia snatches the magazine.

“It’s okay.” Imra tells them, waving them off as they open their mouths to argue.

“Do you want to see?” Imra asks casually, shrugging out of her lab coat. “I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but you must want to see the real deal if you keep bringing it up.” Imra throws her coat at Mike’s stomach with enough force that that he flinches, scrambling to catch it in his surprise

“Let’s get up close and personal.” Imra continues, hooking her thumbs into the elastic waist band as she shimmies her hips back and forth, pulling them down to her knees while she toes off her shoes. “We can all gather around to look at the ass that put Imra Ardeen through medical school.

Maybe I can give you a refresher on anatomy while you’re at it.” Imra kicks her bottoms free, grazing one hand over the back of her thigh and cotton underwear. “Here we have glutes.” Imra’s hand continue to travel as she grasps the hem of her top, pulling it smoothly over her head.

“And, what are these?” Imra motions to her chest, pressed flat by the sports bra she wears. Small pink lines visible where the fabric digs in. “Breasts! How do we ever get any medicine done with these around!”

Imra stands in front of Mike breathing heavily as he stares at his shoes. Looking around the room, gazes drift away from Imra, unable to look her in the eyes.

Imra looks back at Mike, leaning into his space. “If you want to call me Dr. Model, that’s fine. Just remember while you’re sitting on _two hundred_ _thousand_ dollars in school loans, I’m out of debt.”

“What’s going on in here?”

The tension is broken as Lena enters the room, quickly closing the door behind her. Lena scans the room, taking in the near naked intern standing proudly in the middle of the room, and the magazine still scrunched in Nia’s hands, but not hiding much of the photo.

“Dr. Ardeen, if you would do me the favour of putting on your clothes?” Lena struts through the room, holding out her hand towards Nia, wiggling her fingers. Taking the magazine Lena makes a show of throwing it into the trash without giving it a second look.

“Now, if we can all get back to doing our jobs?” Lena drops the small stack of folders she’s been carrying onto the table before she crosses her arms. “I have a young patient with seizures. And I’m going to do something a little unprecedented. I’m going to ask a bunch of first year interns for help.

Now I know you all have a lot on your plates, so I want to give you a little incentive.

The intern that can tell me what’s wrong with Katie gets to scrub into my surgery.” Lena thrusts her chin at the folders sitting untouched on the table. “Good luck.”

\---

Kara sits in the basement looming over a small spread of books with Nia and Imra when her pager beeps. In reflex, Nia and Imra both check theirs before they look to Kara.

“Shouldn’t you run?”

“It’s Katie.”

Kara looks up to see Imra and Nia staring at her with blank looks.

“She’s been getting the nurses to page me 9-1-1 and every time I go up there, there’s nothing wrong with her.” Kara slides off the hospital bed they had commandeered, and leisurely stuffs one hand into the sleeve of her discarded lab coat. “She can wait a minute; it won’t kill her.”

When Kara turns the corner to Katie’s room the hallway is bustling with nurses racing in and out of the room. One accidentally knocks Kara’s shoulder in their rush, giving her a pointed look.

“What took you so long?”

Kara gapes as she enters the room. She had responded to the latest 9-1-1 call just before watching Imra’s surgery. Katie had convinced a nurse to page Kara. But when she got there, Katie just complained about the hospital not having the TV channel she wanted to watch. Kara had checked her heart rate and her chart, and told Katie she was fine.

Now she lays on her side seizing as nurses try to hold her steady, as they shout.

“Dr. Danvers! Dr. Danvers, you need to tell us what to do!”

The desperation in one of the nurse’s voices is what wrenches Kara from her mental daze. Reaching for the chart at the end of the bed Kara looks quickly at the heart monitor and back down at the chart.

“You paged Dr. Luthor? Dr. Danvers?”

“Yes!” A different nurse shouts as Kara continues to flip through the chart.

“Um, phenobarbital,” Kara croaks slightly, “load her with phenobarbital.”

Kara looks back at the heart monitor, her own heart pounding.

“Page Dr. Luthor again.”

Kara barely finishes her request when the long beep of Katie’s heart monitor flatlining echoes in the room.

“Heart stopped!” A nurse calls out at the same time as someone behind Kara shouts out a _code blue._

Kara suddenly whirls into motion as a crash cart is hurried past her. Grabbing at the paddles, Kara holds them out for a squirt of gel before rubbing them together. Hovering the paddles over Katie’s chest.

“Charge to 200.”

“Clear!”

Kara presses down, feeling the familiar thump of the paddles jolting against Katie’s chest.

“Charge to 300.” Kara calls as she stares at the flatline.

“Clear!”

“Charge to 360.”

“Clear!”

Kara puts down the paddles as she looks at the monitor, pumping Katie’s chest with her hand.

“Come on. Come on.” Kara whispers. “Charge again!”

Kara picks up the paddles as she presses against Katie’s chest.

“I said charge again!” Kara looks at the nurse over her shoulder.

“Clear!”

Everyone looks at the monitor, sighing when a small tick appears, followed by another a second later, and another.

“I see sinus rhythm.”

Lena tears into the room as Katie’s pressure starts to rise back to normal levels.

“What the hell happened?”

“She had a seizure.” Kara replies robotically. “Her heart stopped.”

“You were supposed to be monitoring her.” Lena snaps as she snatches the chart.

Lena lifts a hand to stop Kara when she opens her mouth, “I don’t want to hear it. Just go.”

Kara walks out of the room, passing Alex on her way. Ignoring how she scolds her. She passes Nia standing at the nurses’ station, calling out her name. Spotting a side door, Kara takes an abrupt turn suddenly feeling hot, desperate to feel the cold cut of the night air against her skin.

Pushing open the door, Kara picks up into a jog, doubling over as soon as she reaches the nearest tree.

A hand gently pushes Kara’s ponytail back over her shoulder.

“I have toothpaste in my locker.” Nia offers casually, still rubbing Kara’s back as she stands hunched over, hands braced on her knees.

“You carry around toothpaste?”

“Don’t laugh! Apparently, it’s a good thing I do.” Nia defends as Kara turns her head to look up at her.

“Thank you.”

\---

“Help me.” Nia whines as she appears next to Kara’s shoulder at the nursing station.

“With what?”

“My patient needs a central line.”

“I’ve never put in a central line.” Kara’s forehead scrunches as she looks up from her paperwork.

“Me neither.” Nia nods, eyes wide like she expects Kara to catch on to something.

“But your sister has...” Nia finally offers as she points down the hall to where Alex lays sprawled across an abandoned bed left in the hallway.

“Nope.” Kara immediately shakes her head. “You’re on your own.”

“But you’re her sister!”

“And you think that will save me?!” Kara huffs, crossing her arms. “The last time I woke her up she threw her phone at me.”

“Her phone?’’

Kara nods, “She _really_ doesn’t like to be woken up.”

Nia groans dramatically as she stares down the hall at the prone figure.

“Please don’t make me do this.”

“I’m not.”

Kara laughs, when Nia glares at her before she reluctantly trudges down the hallway.

“Are you sure that’s the right diagnosis?”

Kara turns away from watching Nia walk towards her doom in time to see a nurse accept a chart back from Mike.

“When you take fours years of medical school, then you can make the diagnosis.” Mike hands back the chart. “She has a fever, she’s post-op. It’s textbook. Start the anti-biotics.”

Kara looks back down at the chart in front of her as Mike approaches.

“I hate nurses.”

“Pardon?” Kara lifts her head, blinking, pretending she didn’t hear Mike’s comment.

“Nothing.” Mike mumbles, and Kara hums as she looks back down at her papers.

“You know, she could be splinting, or have a P.E.” The words fall out of Kara’s mouth before she can stop them.

She turns to see Mike appraising her.

“Like I said, I hate nurses.”

“Well, like I said. It might not be pneumonia.” Kara forces a smile before turning on her heel. Forcing herself to walk at a normal pace, refusing to give Mike the satisfaction of storming away.

\---

“You survived.” Kara states when Nia finds her in the hospital library. Dramatically, leaning against a shelf as she slides to the floor with a thump.

“Barely.”

Nia’s head lolls to the side as she turns to look at Kara. “Rule number three was not a joke.”

“Did you think it was?”

“No.” Nia yawns, stretching above her head and giving an appreciative groan when something pops. “But I had hoped.”

They sit in silence, Nia with her head propped against the bookshelf and her eyes closed. Kara sitting cross legged with a pen sticking out of her bun and a book strewn across her lap with another in front of her.

“I really want the surgery.”

Kara looks over at Nia, now staring at her seriously.

“Good.” Kara hands Nia a book from her pile. “Then help me, because I don’t.”

“Right.” Nia scoffs as she takes the book from Kara.

“I don’t.” Kara snaps a little, before she rubs at the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”

“Is it because of the code blue with Katie?” Nia asks, ignoring the book in favor of glancing over Katie’s chart scattered across the floor.

“No. Yes.” Kara huffs. “Maybe?”

Nia nods, “So she doesn’t have anoxia, chronic renal failure, or acidosis. It’s not a tumor, because her C.T.’s clean…”

Nia pauses as she taps on the book.

“I get it. You want to figure out what’s wrong with Katie because you feel guilty and you want to show Dr. Luthor that you’re a capable doctor. But you don’t want to be stuck in a surgery _with_ Dr. Luthor.”

“Mhm.” Kara hums as she pulls her pen from her hair and scribbles a note. “What about infection?”

“No.” Nia replies, as she leans forward. “There’s no white count, and she has no C.T. lesions, no fevers, nothing in her spinal tap.

There’s more to it than that though, right?”

“More to what?” Kara asks distractedly.

“More going on between you and Dr. Luthor.” Nia shifts a paper to read more of Katie’s chart.

“You can’t react.” Kara finally looks up from her book and notes, fidgeting with her glasses as she watches Nia from the corner of her eye. “You can’t make a face. Or comment. Or _laugh_.”

Nia sits up, hands wrapped around the book in her lap as she puts on a straight fact, twisting her body slightly towards Kara.

“Weslepttogether.” The words come out in a hurry. Kara ducks back down, pretending to write a new note before Nia can react.

Nia blinks quietly as she digests the new information.

“What about an aneurysm?” Nia asks the first question that pops into her head, pretty sure that she’s having one of her own.

Kara shakes her head. “No blood on the C.T. and no headaches.”

“There’s no drug use, no pregnancy, no trauma.” Nia lets her head fall back against the shelf. “Was she good? She looks like she’d be good.”

“ _Nia._ ” Kara hisses her head popping up, almost giving herself whiplash as she checks that no one is within ear shot.

“Relax. We’re the only ones around.” Nia soothes as she watches the blonde fidget.

“What if no one figures it out?” Kara asks, her voice cracking a little.

“You mean, what if she dies?”

“Yes!” Kara turns back towards Nia, with big round eyes. “She’s just a kid! She’s never going to have the chance to turn into a person.

What if her whole existence is that she almost won that miss whatever pageant!”

Nia snorts, but Kara glares at her.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are!” Nia replies with her hands up.

“What’s her talent for this, anyway?”

“Rhythmic gymnastic.” Kara answers, her lips twitching slightly. “I looked it up on youtube when I had the chance. It was actually kind of fun to watch.”

They both laugh, as they fall into a companionable silence.

“Actually.” Kara taps her pen against her notes as her forehead scrunches. “She mentioned this morning when I took her to get her C.T.-

“-you mean when you got lost.”

Kara throws her pen at Nia as she continues.

“She said she sprained her ankle.” Kara pushes her book to the floor before she scrambles to her feet. “Get up. Let’s go. We have to find Dr. Luthor. I think you’re right. I think Katie has an aneurysm.”

\---

Kara catches Lena just as she steps onto an elevator, one hand stopping the door from closing as Nia catches up, panting heavily.

“We think we know what’s wrong with Katie.”

Lena looks between them both before waving her hand impatiently to say _get on with it_. The elevator door dings and tries to close, but Kara just pushes back against it.

“We think she has an aneurysm.” Kara all but blurts out, her face still warm from the run.

“There are no indications of an aneurysm.” Lena drawls as she motions for Kara to let go of the elevator door.

“What if she has one anyway?” Nia jumps in. “Katie told Kara that she fell and twisted her ankle a couple weeks ago.”

Kara pushes back against the door as it tries to close again as Nia continues.

“It was so minor her doctors didn’t even mention it.”

“Do you know what the chances are?” Lena asks, “That, that fall burst an aneurysm?”

“One in a million,” Kara replies, shoving the door open again ignoring the glares from the other doctors in the elevator, “we know. But what if Katie is one in a million?”

Lena looks between the two hopeful faces, then over her shoulder at the annoyed faces of the doctors behind her. Sighing, Lena steps off the elevator.

“Let’s go see if Katie is one in a million.”

Lena orders the tests, the three of them hovering around some poor soul while they wait for the scans to appear on the screen.

“There it is.” Lena whispers, grabbing the back of the chair as she leans forward to get a better look at the screen. “She’s bleeding into her brain.”

Lena stands there silently as she looks through the window at the young woman laying unconscious in the CT machine. Nodding to herself, Lena walks out of the room to the nearest nursing station to request Katie’s chart.

“I have to go tell Katie’s parents she’s having surgery.” Lena tells her two shadows.

“Um, Dr. Luthor.” Nia looks at Kara and than at the attending in front of them. “You said you would pick someone to scrub in…”

“Of course.” Lena smiles warmly as she looks between them. “Kara, I’ll see you in my O.R.”

Kara stands stock still as she stares at Lena. She can feel Nia’s eyes burning a hole in the side of her head, but she just nods silently at Lena before she walks away. Sighing, when Nia stalks off in the opposite direction.

“Nia!” Kara speeds after her. Suddenly, the one being left behind.

“I didn’t- I wasn’t-“

“Save it.” Nia growls. “You wanted the surgery. It’s fine.”

“I-“

“-but I never expected you to be someone that let their personal relationships carry them to the top.”

“That’s not what that was about!”

“Oh, really?! Because I’m sure if I had slept with Dr. McDreamy-”

“-what is going on?” Alex hisses as she appears from no where. Their shouts drawing attention from doctors and nurses alike.

“Nothing, Alex.” Kara grits through her teeth as she stares down at Nia.

“Right. Nothing, Dr. Danvers.” Nia repeats, before she walks away.

“Kara?”

“Leave it alone Alex.” Kara turns on her heel, heading in the direction of Katie’s room.

“Did you pick me because I slept with you?” Kara blurts out when she finds Lena in Katie’s room.

“You did not just ask me that.” Lena replies as she continues to meticulously move clippers over the side of Katie’s head.

“Did you?”

“No.” Lena sighs as she turns off the clippers, letting her hands relax on the pillow. “You are Katie’s doctor. That’s why I picked you. You’ve earned the right to see this case through to the end.

And you shouldn’t let, this,” Lena motions between them, “stop you from ever taking your shot. You deserve this Kara. Don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise.”

Lena turns the clippers back on, turning her attention back to Katie’s hair. Her eyes only flicking up for a second as Kara leaves the room.

\---

Kara walks back to the nearest nursing station in a thoughtful daze. She barely notices the altercation happening a few feet from her until Dr. Grant’s voice rings out loud and clear.

“Can anyone tell me the common causes of post-op fever?”

Kara looks over at Cat as she stands in front of a very sheepish Mike with his head hung low. They are surrounded by residents that look away, trying not to make eye contact with their chief.

“Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs.” Kara replies simply. “The five ‘W’s.

Splinting and pneumonia are the most common, but pneumonia is easy to assume.”

“Why’s that?” Cat’s eyes light up as she stalks closer.

“Because it usually looks like pneumonia if you’re too busy to run any tests.”

Cat nods as she gives Mike a fierce look over her shoulder.

“And what would you say is wrong the 4B?”

Kara starts to shift, touching the corner of her glasses as she tries to recall the chart she had snuck a look at earlier in the day.

“Walking. I think she might have a pulmonary embolus.”

“How would you diagnose?” Cat continues to stalk closer, causing Kara to fidget more.

“I would- spiral C.T., V/Q scan, provide O2, dose with heparin, and consult for an IVC filter.” Kara recites.

“Very good.” Cat smiles wide before she turns to Mike, letting it immediately fall. “I want you to run those tests, and then I want you to tell the older Dr. Danvers that I want you off this case.”

Cat turns back to Kara without waiting to see if her instructions will be followed. She closes the remaining space between them.

“I hear congratulations are in order. You’re getting to scrub in on your first advance surgery with Dr. Luthor. Well done.”

“Thank you.” Kara whispers, but Cat is already on her way, parting residents like the red sea as she passes.

\---

Kara and Lena don’t talk again before the surgery. They stand next to each other in silence as they scrub their hands pink and let the nurses help them into their surgical gowns.

Lena takes her spot at the head of the operating table as her team falls into place around her like a well-oiled machine. Kara watches from the corner, craning to see over shoulders to get a better look.

So, it surprises her when Lena calls out to her.

“You won’t be able to observe the surgery from the back of the room Dr. Danvers.” Lena motions a latex covered hand at the second microscope positioned over Katie’s head. When Kara stands beside her, Lena looks around the room again.

“It’s a good day for surgery. Let’s have some fun.”

Kara can’t help but grin behind her mask as Lena’s team nods eagerly with her and the surgery begins.

\---

It’s hours later when Kara finally sheds her layers and washes her hands once again. She can feel the burning sensation between her shoulder blades, and all she wants to do is sit. Which is exactly what she does the moment she finds a chair.

“That was a good surgery.” Nia sits down beside her.

“Yeah.” Kara smiles tiredly, eyes barely open.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry for what I said.” Nia looks at Kara with a sad smile. “I know you didn’t sleep with Dr. Luthor to get to the top, and I know that’s not why she gave you the surgery.”

Kara lifts her arm, despite all of her muscles screaming in protest.

“Come here.” Kara smiles dopily. “Come on. Bring it in.”

Nia laughs as she falls into Kara’s side into the most awkwardly uncomfortable hug.

“I’m going to go change, walk out with me?”

“Yeah,” Kara’s head turns as the doors open again, following Lena as she walks towards the nursing station.

“I’ll catch up.” Kara mumbles, unaware that Nia is long gone.

“That was amazing.” Kara says breathlessly, her chest tightening when Lena smiles softly and glances up from Katie’s chart.

Lena hums in agreement as she looks down to write new notes.

“I mean, you practice, you observe, and you think you know what it will feel like…but, wow, that felt better then flying.”

Lena laughs as she looks over at Kara, “do you do much flying?”

“Well, no.” Kara laughs. “But I can imagine.”

Kara sighs again, her body thrumming. “That was such a high.”

Lena nods as she takes in Kara’s post surgery glow, her tongue flicking out over her lips.

“I don’t know why anyone does drugs.”

“Yeah.” Lena agrees, her voice low as she continues to pin Kara with her stare.

“Yeah.” Kara repeats, lowing her eyes as she touches her glasses, her cheeks pinking slightly.

“I should go…” Lena breathes out, picking up the chart.

“Yeah.” Kara says again. “I’ll see you later.”

Lena just nods as she slowly takes a couple steps backwards before she finally turns and walks down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! It's been a hot minute! If you follow me on tumblr you know that I was really struggling to write this chapter. It turned out to be more Sam heavy than I had planned but here we are. I hope you enjoy it all the same <3

“I’m telling you, it’s Lexie Grey,” Alex insists as she tries to reach over Kara to punch in the answer.

It’s Trivia Tuesday as Schott’s and they’ve claimed a corner booth in the back where they can argue over their answers without anyone overhearing. Not that it matters because they’re currently losing. They’ve had enough drinks that their answers have started getting sloppy and Nia has all but stopped playing in favour of staring dreamily over Kara’s shoulder for the last two drinks. Kara knows if she looks, she’ll find Brainy, a resident interested in neurology with black shoulder-length hair sitting at the table behind her.

“Earth to Nia.” Kara waves a hand in front of her eyes.

“You’re staring.” Kara smiles gleefully as Nia shrugs.

“Like you haven’t spent half the night sneaking glances at a certain someone sitting at the bar.”

“W-What?” Kara stammers, ears burning as she slumps low in her seat, knocking knees with Nia under the table. “I’m not staring.”

“Who are you staring at?” Alex chooses then to tune back into their conversation, finally satisfied she has entered in the right answer.

“No one.”

“McDreamy.” Kara glares at Nia over the edge of the table when they answer at the same time.

“Who’s McDreamy?” Alex between the two women curiously.

“ _No one_.”

“Dr. Luthor.”

Nia yelps when Kara kicks out at her shin barely making contact in her drunken state.

“Why are you staring at Dr. Luthor?” Alex voices borders on teasing, like she’s just found a new toy she can play with.

“Kara slept with her.” Nia supplies readily, lips loosened from their tequila shots.

“You slept with Dr. Luthor?” Alex nearly yells in her surprise, head snapping towards her sister.

“Can you not tell the _whole_ bar?” Kara hisses, sitting up so she can look towards the bar to make sure Lena hasn’t overheard them.

Alex has the decency to look a little chastised as she takes another sip of her drink. “Sorry, I just can’t believe you slept with an attending. In my apartment. You’ve barely been at the hospital three months.”

“Our.” Kara mutters into her glass as her shoulders start to rise up around her ears. “And it was before the hospital…”

“What?!”

“We, uh, we met here. The night before… that’s kind of why I was late the first morning…”

“You were late, because you were having sex with McDreamy?”

“She had already left!” Kara tries to defend herself, glaring at Nia when she tries and fails to hide her laugh behind her hand.

“Please tell me you didn’t defile my couch.”

“ _Our._ ” Kara huffs, fiddling with the rim of her glasses. “And we didn’t defile the couch.”

“You screwed on the floor?” Nia chokes on her shot as she looks at Kara with watery eyes.

“I have a mattress.”

“On your floor!” Nia cackles before she nudges her foot against Kara’s underneath the table. “But seriously, you should go ask if she wants to be on our team. Honestly, we could use her.”

Alex huffs but doesn’t argue as Kara looks at Lena in the corner of her eye.

“I will if you will.” Kara finally replies as she sits up, confident that Nia won’t have it in her to approach her crush.

“Deal.” Nia grins as she finishes her shot and heads in the direction of Brainy’s table, leaving Kara behind to regret her challenge.

Kara shuffles reluctantly across the bar with their empties, nerves growing with each step. Setting the glasses on the bar Kara asks Winn for another round.

“Why aren’t you playing trivia?” Kara asks, pulling Lena’s attention away from the muted news cycle on the TV above the bar.

Lena just hums as she looks down at the amber liquid swirling around her glass as she slowly rotates it. “I’m not very good at trivia.”

“I doubt that,” Kara says before she can stop herself. “Do you…do you, maybe, want to join us?”

Kara starts to panic slightly when Lena doesn’t immediately reply. “It’s just, Alex and Nia always think they know the answers, and we’re losing. _Again_. And Winn always has the best prizes and I could really use someone on my team.”

Kara takes a deep breath as Lena raises both eyebrows.

“I think I could be on your team.”

“Really?” Kara’s eyes widen in surprise before they crinkle at the corner when she realizes Lena is on the verge of laughing. “I mean, that’s great! Let’s go!”

“Kara?”

Kara turns back to see Lena pointing at the fresh drinks sitting on a tray on the bar top.

“Right.” Kara blushes as she grabs their round, noting how Winn added a refill of Lena’s drink to the tray as she leads them back to the table.

Nia is still gone when they sit. Alex disappears quickly after with a mumble about needing to use the bathroom leaving the two of them alone. Kara sinks into the leather cushions, happy to stare at Lena as she answers all the trivia questions for them. Only stopping occasionally to look at Kara for a second opinion.

“We’re not going to date,” Lena says, brushing her hair from her face, turning to meet Kara’s open ogling with a loose smile and soft eyes.

“I didn’t ask,” Kara whispers as she knocks her knuckles against Lena’s leg. Her heart stutters happily when they both seem to lean in closer instead of pulling apart.

A shadow in the corner pulls Kara’s attention away and her smile turns into a grin as she tips her head in its direction. Lena twists her body to look over her shoulder without pulling away from Kara. Easily finding Nia and Brainy wrapped up in each other in a corner of the bar, foreheads pressed together as they sway.

“They’re a cute couple,” Lena says as she twists back around. “I’m glad he finally asked her out.”

Kara nods a couple times in agreement before the words sink in and she looks at Lena in confusion. “He asked her out?”

“Mhm.” Lena’s leg shifts closer and Kara’s hand moves to cover her knee. “He asked me for dating advice while I was pulling nails out of a patient’s head. I think he was feeling a little panicked about it.”

“You pulled nails out of someone’s head?” Kara asks in awe, glancing down at marron painted lips as they twist into a smirk.

“Seven.” Lena gloats, her index finger gliding over the rim of her glass as she wets her lips. Her smirk grows when Kara swallows heavily. “He fell down a flight of stairs holding a nail gun.”

When Kara looks back up at Lena, her eyes have darkened and she’s watching Kara like a hawk.

Kara’s not sure who leans in first, but the next thing she knows their lips are brushing. Lena’s tongue brushing against her upper lip before she sucks it lightly into her mouth. Their lips stick slightly on Lena’s lipstick as Kara presses in. Her hand tangling in the back of Lena’s hair as she opens her mouth, moaning when she feels Lena lick in to her.

They only break apart when Alex slumps back into the seat beside Kara minutes later, sending them flying apart. Kara’s still dazed, blinking slowly as she stares at Lena. Her face is covered in a mild look of panic as she slides slowly from the booth without breaking eye contact. Kara watches her flee before she can fully digest what just happened.

“You have lipstick on your mouth,” Alex states as she grabs her glass from the tray.

Kara wipes her mouth on the back of her hand, blushing when it comes back with Lena’s maroon colour.

“What?” Kara tries not to snap when she sees her sister watching her carefully.

“Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” Kara grumbles. “You’ve got that, that _look_ , you do when you don’t like something.”

“I just think you should be careful.”

“Careful of what?” Kara huffs as she pulls her own empty glass towards her so she has something to fiddle with.

“You and McDreamy,” Alex sighs, “just be careful Kara…You don’t want people to think you’re having things handed to you. Especially not opportunities they have to fight for…it can be a slippery slope.”

“It’s a good thing there is nothing between me and McDreamy then,” Kara says quietly, almost sighing in relief when Alex doesn’t say anything more.

\---

Kara _almost_ regrets her night when she and Alex have to drag themselves to the hospital under the dark cover of morning. Their bikes are the only sounds for miles. Neither of them speaks even as they go their separate ways at the hospital. Kara changes into her scrubs without a word, flopping onto the bench beside Nia so they can prop themselves up against each other. Both turning to glare at Imra as she enters the locker room with a fresh burst of energy.

“You know we hate you, right?” Nia croaks, closing her eyes when Imra smiles at them.

“Late night?”

“Barely.” Nia replies, rubbing at her eyes. “I think it has more to do with them running us to death.”

Nia’s mouth snaps closed when Alex opens the door looking much more awake then when Kara left her.

“Good morning!” Alex says a little too loud, watching the interns wince.

“It’s time for pre-rounds.” Alex prowls around the locker room.

“This is a great opportunity for some of you to start working on your bedside manners.” Alex scans the room with an unimpressed look. “I want to hear you saying good morning, and please, thank you. You don’t want to be awake this early, neither do any of our patients. But we want them to tell you what’s wrong with them. We want them to want to talk to you. And the best way to do that is to show them that not every visit from you comes with bad news.”

Alex pauses on the far side of the room and looks at her watch. “I want pre-rounds done by 5:30.”

Alex smiles as the room clears in record time.

\---

Hours later Kara sits behind a nurses’ station trying to stay out of sight, head bobbing as she fights to keep her eyes open when someone raps their knuckles on the counter. Jolting awake Kara finds herself staring into dark brown eyes dancing with amusement.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” The brunette starts, her voice verging on laughter as Kara scrambles to her feet. One hand smoothing over the creases in her scrubs in a desperate attempt to make herself feel a little less self conscious as she takes in the woman before her.

She’s dressed entirely in black, hands tucked deep into her pockets. Her sleeves are pushed up to her elbows, showing off muscular forearms and a thick black watch with some gold bangles. Her pants are pressed into a crisp line that leads all the way down to a casual pair of loafers. Dark locks brush against her shoulders as she looks around the hospital with curious eyes before they land back on Kara.

“I was hoping you might be able to tell me where I can find doctor-“

“-Sam!”

Kara and the woman both turn in Lena’s direction as she strides towards them, heels echoing against the linoleum floors. Lena throws her arms around the woman’s neck, their bodies swaying slightly as the woman catches her easily around the waist. Kara almost rocks with them in her surprise.

Lena looks radiant when she pulls back, smiling at the woman before she looks at Kara, wiggling her fingers in Kara’s direction as she tugs the woman back towards her office.

“Who was that?” Alex surprises Kara, her and Nia appearing behind Kara without warning.

“A friend of Lena’s…I think?”

“A McSexy friend.” Nia says, as she pushes a chair under Kara to catch her as she starts to sit.

“McSexy?”

“Too much?”

Alex shrugs and looks at the woman striding away, hands back in her pockets in an easy confidence.

“McYummy?”

Nia pulls a face and shakes her head.

“McSteamy.” Kara says as she watches the two women, her stomach tight.

“McSteamy.” Nia agrees easily, all three of them now watching the two women walk away.

“Do you think they’re dating?” Nia asks absently as she notices Lena’s hand circle around the mystery woman’s wrist and tugs her around the corner. Sensing Kara’s tension to the question Nia gasps dramatically, “Does that make you the dirty mistress?”

Kara snorts and shakes her head as she continues to stare down the empty hallway. “Lena’s not a cheater.”

Kara turns to find Alex and Nia watching her with matching sympathetic looks.

“She’s not,” Kara insists even as her stomach clenches. “I’ve looked into her eyes. She’s not like that.”

Alex nods and pats Kara’s shoulder as she nudges into Nia, herding her away so Kara sits alone at the nurses’ station again.

\---

“She’s the new chief of peds.” Alex ambushes Kara a few days later as she’s leaving the locker room.

“Who?”

“McSteamy,” Alex explains as they walk. “Or, Sam Arias. She just transferred from Metropolis. And you’ve been put on her rotation.”

“Me?” Kara stops dead in the hallway, touching her glasses. “Why me?”

“I don’t know, Kara.” Alex shrugs. “She requested you.”

“And don’t be late!” Alex calls over her shoulder prompting Kara to turn on her heel and head towards the pediatrics wing with her head spinning.

There’s only one reason Kara can think that Sam would request her to be on her service and it makes her hands sweat as she gets on the elevator.

_Lena._

It’s the only explanation that makes any sense, how else could Sam possibly know who she is. They didn’t exactly exchange information when they first met. Before she can think too much about it, the elevator doors open to reveal Sam waiting for her. A cup of coffee and a medical chart in hand and a smile that would put Kara at ease if she thought it was genuine.

“There’s the intern I requested.” Sam doesn’t wait before she starts heading down the hall. Kara stumbles to catch up, lengthening her stride to match Sam’s as she gracefully weaves through a sea of pink scrubs.

“I don’t know if this is your first time in peds or not. If not, you should know-“

“-it is,” Kara says strongly, faltering when Sam glances at her, “my first time in peds.”

“Well, I plan on running things a little differently. It’s not general surgery in miniature. These are tiny humans. Kids.

“They believe in magic, and play pretend. They think their IV bags are full of fairy dust. They hope and they dream.”

Kara finds herself nodding along, watching Sam with wide eyes.

“They are more resilient than adults. They recover faster and they survive worse.

“ _Miracles_ happen in peds.”

Kara smiles at the thought as Sam stops outside a door and nods to the little boy they can spy laying on the bed.

“Jackson Prescott. Nine years old, and a regular visitor.” Kara nods in understanding. “I want you to look at him before you look at his chart.”

“Why?” Kara asks before she can think better of it. But it must be the right question because Sam’s smile seems genuine now.

“I want your unbiased opinion,” Sam replies before she steps into the room.

Kara hangs near the door and tries to discreetly study Jackson while Sam talks to his mother.

“Have you seen Jackson?”

Sam’s question pulls at Kara’s attention, and Kara gives her a confused look, her eyes flickering over to the bed in time to see the little boy quickly tugs his sheets over his head.

“Nope.” Kara adds in an extra pop now that she’s all caught up. There’s a muffled laugh coming from the bed as Sam sighs dramatically and looks around the room.

“I’ll check the bathroom and you check under the bed.”

“You got it, boss.” Kara waits until Sam disappears into the bathroom before she turns towards the bed with a grin. Placing one hand on the side Kara ducks her head to make a show of looking under the bed despite no one paying attention to her.

“Did you find him?” Sam’s voice sounds closer and Kara pops up to find Sam watching her from the other side of the bed.

“Not under here…but, I did notice the bed looks really lumpy. We should probably remake the bed for when we find Jackson.”

Sam hums and Kara can tell she’s trying to hide her amusement.

“I think you might be right, Dr. Danvers.”

Just as they are getting ready to pull on the blanket it gets yanked down by Jackson, cheeks flushed and hair sticking up in all directions. Sam presses a hand to her chest and gasps, eliciting a small giggle.

“You scared me.”

Kara watches as Sam smiles and leans forward with a mischievous look on her face. “Can you help me with something?”

When Jackson nods, Sam cups a hand around the side of her mouth nearest Kara, creating a fake shield as she points in Kara’s direction. “Dr. Danvers is new here and I’m hoping you would help me train her today.”

Jackson studies her for a moment, and Kara smiles reflexively. As soon he nods, Kara takes Sam’s place on the edge of the bed, cracking a joke that makes Jackson laugh. She grins as she chats with Jackson and takes his vitals while listening to Sam’s whisper directions in her ear.

They leave the room with matching smiles and a couple placating comments for the mother. As soon as the door closes behind them Sam releases a deep breath and leans against the wall before she hands Kara the chart she’s been holding. Kara does her best to ignore Sam as she pulls a lollipop free from her pocket and tugs off the plastic in favour of flipping through Jackson’s chart.

Kara’s brow furrows the further she reads, flipping back and forth as she shakes her head.

“This doesn’t make any sense…” Kara murmurs to herself before she looks up at Sam. “He hasn’t been showing any signs of improvement.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Sam says around the candy in her mouth and pushes off the wall towards the nurses’ station.

“But,” Kara trails after Sam as she continues to read over Jackson’s chart, “why did they continue this course of treatment for so long? If it wasn’t working?”

A doctor huffs impatiently from behind the nurses’ station before Sam can reply. “Dr. Wells was sure if we kept up with the current treatment that Jackson would turn a corner.”

Kara and Sam turn towards the doctor as he stands and tugs on his white coat to straighten his appearance. Sam rolls her lollipop around her mouth before she pulls it free, never breaking eye contact.

“A lot of senior peds surgeons believe that strictureplasty works…sometimes they’re right. But today we’re going to start exploring other options, doctor…”

“Dey.” The doctor doesn’t offer a hand as he and Sam study each other. “William Dey.”

“I’d like you to book me an operating room for Jackson’s _thirteenth_ bowel resection Dr. Dey.” Sam pops her lollipop back in her mouth as she signs off on something on Jackson’s chart. “I would like to get him in an operating room this afternoon. Kara,” Sam turns towards her, ignoring William’s attempts to protest, “I recommend going to get something to eat. I’ll see you in the OR after.”

\---

Kara finds Nia in the cafeteria with her head propped in her hands above a bowl of soup. Her head nods precariously almost hitting the table as Kara gently takes the seat beside her with a breathy laugh.

“When Alex said to sleep whenever you can wherever you can, I don’t think this is what she had in mind.”

Nia groans and rolls her eyes, chin still cupped in her hand and her eyes a little droopy as she pushes a spoon around her bowl to watch the chunks of carrots float around. “How’s it going with McSteamy?”

Kara looks at her sharply, and points a forkful of macaroni and cheese in her direction. “Who told you I was with McSteamy?”

Nia shrugs as she drops her spoon and leans her head into both hands again.

“She’s perfect,” Kara groans.

“And…we’re upset by this?”

“Nooo.” Kara pouts as she shovels two large bites of macaroni into her mouth. Nia says nothing as Kara chews thoughtfully.

“It’s just not fair,” Kara whines.

“You’re right.” Nia nods towards the door where Sam and Lena have just stepped into the cafeteria. Their matching dark blue scrubs on full display and their hair tossed into messy ponytails highlighting their sharp jawlines. “That’s definitely not fair.”

“They look like they should be one the cover of a magazine,” Kara huffs and stuffs another scoop of food into her mouth.

“Rolling Stone Medical Association?” Nia snorts when Kara glares at her before her eyes drift back towards Lena.

“Are you sure they’re not dating?” Nia asks as they watch Sam press a hand to Lena’s lower back, directing her towards the cafeteria line. The two of them laugh after Sam leans in to whisper something in her ear before grabbing them both a plastic lunch tray.

“I’m sure.” Kara hopes her tone doesn’t betray her wavering confidence as she forces her eyes away.

Nia smiles sympathetically. “You know…women can cheat too.”

“I know.” Kara exhales heavily and looks back at Lena. Her eyes fixated on Sam as she speaks. “But she’s not like that. I trust her.”

“I helped a kid in the ER today that had a lightbulb stuck in their mouth.” Nia tries to change the subject to distract Kara. Sighing, when she barely gets a nod in response.

“I fed a surgical bag into his mouth to go around the bulb so we could break it and…” Nia pauses as Imra sits down across from Kara, looking annoyed as Mike falls into the seat beside her staring at the side of her head as Imra pointedly ignores him.

“Anyway…” Nia drawls, glancing from Imra to Mike and back again, deciding to take Imra’s lead and ignore him. “The kid wouldn’t bite down on the light bulb. Not that I can blame him. But his little sister got impatient and smacked him in the chin.”

Nia mimics the little sister hitting her brother, tapping the back of her hand against the bottom of her chin. “I pulled the broken bulb out of his mouth and he just stared at it and went, ‘that’s amazing’. I had to leave. I was trying so hard not to laugh, the shocked look on his mom’s face when his sister hit him.”

Imra and Kara both grin, wrapped up in watching Nia’s enjoyment in retelling the story.

“The kid’s an idiot,” Mike says, interrupting their laughter and shoving a large sandwich in his mouth, chewing it with his mouth open.

“Why are you even here?” Nia all but snarls, looking more annoyed when Mike just smirks. “No one invited you.”

“I thought we were a _team_.” Mike grins around a mouthful of white bread. “Besides, she invited me.”

Imra looks a little guilty, as she shifts on her seat. “We _are_ a team.”

Kara’s attention drifts away from Nia’s annoyed huff when she spots Sam and Lena looking in her direction. Swallowing heavily when she meets Lena’s gaze, eye dropping momentarily to red painted lips.

“I think you’re being summoned.” Nia interrupts the moment and Kara turns abruptly towards her, almost knocking over Nia’s cold soup.

“What?”

Nia nods in Sam’s direction and when Kara looks again, Sam is standing. As soon as they make eye contact Sam motions a hand towards the door that has Kara jumping to attention. Ditching her styrofoam container, Kara gives her group a wave before she crosses the cafeteria to linger near Sam and Lena’s table.

“I’m just saying, it cures headaches better than coffee.”

Kara eyes narrow in on Lena when she snorts. Now that she’s closer she can see the tension she’s holding in her shoulders, and how her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and how she grips on to a cup of coffee like a lifeline.

“That says a lot coming from the woman who practically needs coffee to breathe.”

“Well, sex is better.”

Kara chokes, coughing on air as Sam turns towards her with raised eyebrows and a knowing look before she turns back to Lena.

“Sex and coffee don’t fix everything.” Lena replies, her voice so low now that Kara strains her ears trying to hear her.

“In my experience they do.” Sam steps away from the table with a soft smile that has Kara swaying. “At least take an Advil. This is a hospital; I know you can find some.”

\---

Kara follows Sam to the operating room as she ties a generic pale blue cap over her hair, replaying Sam and Lena’s conversation over and over in her head while she begins to scrub her hands.

“Ready?” Sam asks, breaking the silence as she pats her hands dry on a clean towel, careful not to touch anything else.

Kara lifts her gaze to look through the small glass window above the sink, focusing on the short tuft of brown hair she can see under the surgical drapes.

“Yeah.” Kara breathes as she takes a clean towel for her own hands before meeting Sam’s gaze. “I am.”

“Good.” Sam gives her a reassuring smile before her eyes take on a mischievous glint. “Lena said you were confident.”

Kara straightens under the praise and Sam’s smile grows.

“That’s good in a surgeon, just don’t get cocky.”

Kara stands in a stunned silence as she and Sam are assisted into their surgical gowns and gloves.

“Will you be joining us sometime today, Dr. Danvers?” William’s voice pulls Kara free from her stupor from his spot across the operating table from Sam.

“Yes.” Kara recovers quickly, striding to her spot on Sam’s left.

It’s not long after Sam’s initial cut that Kara feels the atmosphere in the room shift. It’s fallen quiet except for Sam’s occasional instruction. And even then Kara can tell her voice has grown softer as they’ve progressed. Every few minutes Sam pauses to look at Jackson’s face, sighing heavily before continuing.

“Kara, can you pull the retractor more?” Sam requests quietly.

“Like this?” Kara moves her hand back slowly, halting immediately when Sam nods.

“Damn.” Sam exhales heavily, sounding equal parts sad and annoyed. It’s the moment Kara knows for certain that Jackson’s case is worse than they initially thought.

“This is a mess.” Sam says as she prods around gently inside Jackson. “He’s barely going to have ten centimeters of bowel left.”

A scoff makes both women lift their heads to look at William.

“Do you have something to add, Dr. Dey?” Sam’s voice is flat, and Kara admires her ability not to snap at the other doctor.

“A competent doctor would at least try a bianchi procedure, try and save more of the bowel.”

“Dr. Dey.” Sam speaks before William can continue, her voice taking on a sharp edge. “Jackson’s bowel is dead. The liver is cirrhotic. A _competent doctor_ would have put him on the transplant list over a year ago.

“It’s a miracle he’s still alive,” Sam says softly as she looks over the surgical drapes to the little boy’s face, smooth and peaceful.

Silence falls over the operating room until Sam takes another deep breath. “Let’s close him up.”

“You could have done more.” Kara trails behind William as he follows Sam, throwing his surgical gown and gloves into a bin with anger. “You could’ve-”

“Enough.” Sam stops at the nursing station, resting both palms on the counter as she takes in a deep measured breath. Kara fiddles with the corner of her glasses as she hangs further back, watching.

“I need you to call UNOS and get Jackson on the transplant list, _today_.” Sam says when she straightens again.

“Just the intestine? Or…” Kara trails off when William glares at her.

“The liver too.” Sam instructs patiently, even as her lips purse when William starts to protest.

“We should get another opinion.”

“Here.” Sam pulls a pen from her pocket and reaches over the counter for a stack of neon coloured post-its, peeling one from the top. She scribbles something on the small piece of paper before she holds it out between two fingers for William to take. “That is the number for Dr. Palmer, head of pediatrics at Star City General.

“Tell him Sam Arias wants him to look over Jackson’s chart. And when _he_ tells you that Jackson needs a transplant, put him on the list.”

“There’s no need to get hysterical…” William says nonchalantly as he takes the post-it from Sam.

“Hysterical?” Everything around Sam seems to freeze as her eyes harden. “Hysterical?

You have been second guessing me since I took over Dr. Wells' caseload. And I get it. You liked him, you respected him, and I’m just a stranger in a ponytail.

But I am not the enemy here.

We only have one problem, and that problem is Jackson. I would appreciate it if you stopped focusing on me and started to focus on your patient, Dr. Dey.

Jackson _needs_ a transplant, or he’s not going to make it. If you can’t handle that, I suggest you go back to Dr. Rojas in plastics.” Sam inhales, composing herself before she continues. “Now, I don’t care which of you does it…” Sam glances between Kara and William, “but someone better get Jackson’s name on the transplant list.”

In the end Kara is the one that calls UNOS. After Sam walks away, she and William look at each other expectantly.

“If you’re looking for someone to support this, look somewhere else.”

So, Kara’s the one that calls, finding a storage room where she can seethe in anger as she does. Her foot kicks out at a package of supplies that have fallen off a shelf as she paces back and forth muttering under her breath after she gets off the phone. The package ricochets off the leg of a shelf before it spins towards a now open door and bounces off a pair of ankles.

“Rough day?” Lena asks as she closes the door behind her and turns the lock.

“He’s just a- he’s such a- a- jerk!” Kara cries, spinning on her heel and pacing the length of the shelves as she waves her hands around. “A little kid might die and he won’t even listen. Instead, he keeps trying to undermine her. Why? Because she’s a woman? Because he thinks he’s a better doctor? It’s not like there’s even a competition. He’s a fourth-year resident and she’s the chief of pediatrics!”

Kara deflates almost immediately, suddenly realizing that she’s yelling in a storage room. At an attending. At _Lena._

“It’s okay, you know.” Lena seems to pick up on Kara's train of thought. “We’ve all come in here to yell at some point or another. I’ve even broken a couple things. It’s never easy to lose a patient, especially when it’s a child.”

“We haven’t lost him yet.” Kara mumbles, leaning her forehead against the nearest shelf, reveling in the touch of cool metal. “He needs a transplant. Intestine and liver.”

Kara can hear Lena Inhale sharply at that and turns her head slightly to soak her in, noting the way she leans against the door like she also needs the support.

“How’s your head?” Kara asks softly, feeling like she’s revealed too much of her hand when Lena just tilts her head and _stares_. She’s growing self conscious under Lena’s studying gaze when Lena’s eyes finally slip closed and she takes a deep breath.

“That good?”

“I just needed a moment of quiet.” Lena admits, eyes still closed.

“I can leave, if you like?” Kara reluctantly offers, almost sighing in relief when Lena shakes her head.

“Please don’t.”

When Lena opens her eyes again Kara is looking at her with a smile so bright that Lena has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling back.

“Don’t let this go to your head.” Lena rolls her eyes playfully as she pushes off the door. She uses one foot to kick the package still laying on the floor back in Kara’s direction as she leaves, laughing when Kara reflexively dips to pick it up.

\---

When Kara can finally settle on a barstool at Schott’s she sighs in relief. Avoiding Sam and William had left her feeling tense and on edge her entire shift. Now that it finally starts to bleed away it leaves her with a slightly hungover feeling that she washes away with a giant glass of cold water. Luckily Winn seems to understand, supplying water without question, waiting patiently for Kara to finish before offering something stronger.

While she waits for her second drink Kara notices Sam sitting at the opposite end of the bar for the first time, nursing a tumbler of scotch.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks as she slips across the empty stools until there is only one empty seat left between them. “Today was kinda…heavy.”

“I’m supposed to be asking you that,” Sam says into her drink before she takes a generous swallow. Kara shrugs, unconcerned.

“If you want to join us…” Kara nods towards the group that have entered the bar, immediately commandeering a corner booth, “we’d be happy to have you.”

Sam glances as the group, eyes lingering before she smiles genuinely at Kara.

“I can’t stay late.” Sam lifts her nearly empty glass, “I only came for one.”

Kara nods, leaving Sam to finish her drink as she takes her own across the bar. She doesn’t make it far when she stops in her tracks.

“Luthor’s nothing more than a pretty face and some good press for the hospital. And all her pro-bono work? It’s just retribution for what her brother did. Or was it her mother-“

Kara’s jaw clenches but before she can turn around to find the culprit, they are silenced by the loud thunk of heavy glass hitting the wood bar top. When Kara turns around everyone in the bar is looking at Sam’s back.

“You shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about, Morgan.”

The man puffs his chest as he stands, walking across the bar almost encroaching in Sam’s space. “And what do you know about it?”

Sam twists on the stool, hand arched over her glass as she turns it, analyzing the man.

“More than you do.”

Morgan’s smile grows as he leans forward, “Oh, I _bet_ you do.”

The sneer is full of implications that set Kara’s teeth on edge. They obviously bother Sam too because she’s standing, closing the already short distance between them.

“Jealousy isn’t a good colour on you, Edge.”

“Still ready to do Lena’s dirty work, I see.”

Everything after that happens so quickly, Kara blinks and it’s over.

One minute they’re standing nose to nose and the next moment Edge is sitting in the remains of a broken table screaming obscenities at Sam as she holds her face.

Before Kara can think, she’s dropping her drink on the nearest table and crossing the room. She makes it to Sam just in time to catch her leaning across the bar to promise Winn that she will cover the cost of the table.

“You need stitches.”

Sam turns towards Kara as she gingerly touches her cheek again and looks at the blood coating her fingers. “You’re probably right.”

Kara follows Sam from the bar and Sam looks at her with raised eyebrows when they step into the crosswalk to the hospital together.

“I thought you might need some help, with the stitches.”

Kara tries not to bristle when Sam laughs as they make their way through the automatic doors and head towards an empty room. Sam quietly requesting some supplies from the nurse stationed behind the desk.

“You can hold the mirror,” Sam offers, taking the one the nurse returns with and hands it to Kara.

“You don’t trust me?” Kara tries to joke through the sting to her ego as she settles on a stool and holds the mirror between them.

“I trust you fine.” Sam meets her eyes over the mirror with a smile before concentrating on her reflection again, deftly guiding the needle and thread. “But until very recently you’ve mostly been practicing your sutures on bananas.”

Kara laughs, because Sam’s not wrong. And when she puts it like that, it’s probably best that Sam is doing her own stitches.

“I could’ve gotten Dr. Rojas for you instead.”

Sam hums, eyes twinkling as she looks up for a moment, “But where’s the fun in that.”

Kara zones out after that, watching Sam make small efficient stitches with growing admiration. It’s Sam that finally breaks the silence, clearing her throat.

“He was lying, you know.”

Kara blinks her way slowly back to reality, trying to decipher Sam’s words with a lingering sense of hope.

“Lying about what?” Kara asks cautiously, keeping her eyes fixed on Sam’s hands.

“Lena,” Sam replies so bluntly Kara almost flinches. “Morgan has a habit of stirring up trouble. And he and Lena have never seen eye to eye.”

“He said she had something to do with Luthor Corp-“

“-she didn’t,” Sam cuts Kara off, “but that’s Lena’s story to tell.”

Their conversation is cut off by Lena’s abrupt arrival, all dark hair and navy scrubs as she strides through the door.

“Why are you in here stitching up your own face?” Lena waves towards the window as if they were trying to hide, and failing. Lena pulls up another stool and cups Sam’s chin, gently turning her face so she can get a better look at her cheek. “Why didn’t you page me?”

“I knew you were in surgery.” Sam lets herself be moved until Lena seems satisfied and simply cups her face.

“What happened?” Lena asks, softly maintaining eye contact.

“Morgan Edge was at Schott’s.”

It’s not much as far as explanations go, but it must be enough because Lena’s mouth is twisting into something close to a smile as she shakes her head.

“What I wouldn’t have given to see that up close.”

Sam laughs as Lena reaches over her to grab a white packet sitting on the counter. She sits still while Lena tears it open and peels off a small bandage, delicately pressing the sticky edges around her wound.

“There. All done.”

Sam playfully rolls her eyes as she grabs her blaze and shrugs it on, pulling her hair free of the collar. “I better get going or Ruby will never stop fussing over me.”

Lena laughs as she rolls away on her stool to let Sam stand.

“You kids behave now!” Sam tosses over her shoulder before she’s gone, leaving an awkward silence in her wake.

“God, I hate her.” Lena laughs as she starts cleaning up the small mess Sam left behind.

“No, you don’t,” Kara replies softly, earning herself an amused huff.

“No, I don’t.”

There’s a pause before Lena stands, fingers playing with the paper from the gauze.

“I’m sorry,” Kara blurts, watching Lena’s fingers halt their movement before she finally throws the paper away.

“For what, exactly?”

“For kissing you,” Kara replies honestly. Her fists clenching on her knees.

Lena turns quietly towards Kara, her eyes dancing with something Kara can’t quite describe.

“I’m not.” Lena breathes as she looks down at Kara.

“Good night, Kara.” Lena’s gone before Kara can say anything to stop her.

“Good night, Lena,” Kara says quietly to an empty room.

\---

Kara lays on a gurney desperately trying to chase sleep, her head still spinning with the previous week’s events.

Sam getting into a bar fight with Morgan Edge. An attending Kara barely knew existed, and suspended before she had the chance to do rounds with him. Not that she missed much based on the other resident’s stories. Ruby, the mysterious woman Sam mentioned. Sam’s comments that Edge was lying about Lena.

It’s the last two that seem to be living rent free in Kara’s head at the moment. She’s curious who Ruby is to Sam, secretly hoping she’s a girlfriend or wife. She’s bursting at the seams to ask someone. But the only people she knows would have the answer she’s too afraid to ask, because what if she’s wrong? What if she’s been wrong about Lena this whole time?

When she can’t think about that any longer, she imagines Sam’s reaction to Edge’s taunting at the bar. How quickly things had escalated when he implied that Sam might know things a bit more _intimately_. The sharpness of Sam’s tone when she told Kara that he was telling lies about Lena.

Then there’s Lena’s quiet confession.

_I’m not._

Each thought dances and dodges every time Kara tries to grasp at a conclusion. Refusing to be pieced together in any coherent manner, leaving Kara wide awake and full of more questions.

Just as she resolves to close her eyes and shut everything out, her pager beeps. Sighing, Kara reaches for the piece of plastic clipped to her waist band. One look and she’s lurching off the gurney full of renewed energy.

William is holding a piece of a paper towards Sam when Kara catapults into the room.

“I figured I can convince one of these doctors to come down and do a tips procedure on Jackson.”

“That’s like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound,” Sam says tiredly as she stirs the cup of coffee she’s making and ignores Kara’s graceless entrance.

“You have a better idea?” William snaps.

“I do,” Sam huffs, the two of them ignoring Kara when she tries to interrupt. “Wait for UNOs. Trust the system.”

“We got it!” Kara shouts before William can say something he’ll regret.

Kara blushes when they both turn to stare and waves her pager breathlessly. “UNOS. They have organs for Jackson.”

Sam looks at William pointedly as Kara grins. “Well, let’s go get them.”

\---

“I wonder why they don’t deliver organs.” Kara fills the silence as she looks out the plane window. “I mean, I’m glad we have to pick them up. I love flying. It just seems like they would have something else in place so they wouldn’t have to take doctors away from the OR.”

Kara knows she’s rambling but she can’t help it, Sam hasn’t said anything since they got on the plane.

“Do you like flying?” Kara asks, trying to get some kind of engagement. Anything to stop the flood of words she can’t seem to stop on her own.

“Not right now.” Sam replies with partially closed eyes as they hit a small pocket of turbulence and Kara slumps a little in her seat filling Sam with a stab of guilt.

“So, you and Lena...” Kara stiffens as Sam turns towards her. Suddenly she wishes she had just stayed silent so Sam would have just stayed silent.

Kara reaches up for her glasses, trying to hide her sudden jerkiness. “Uhhh.”

“Is she the one?”

“What?”

“You know, _the one_ ,” Sam repeats. “The one you want to marry, have kids, and get a dog with…isn’t that the dream?”

Kara finally peeks over at Sam and catches her smiling with a glint in her eyes and sighs.

“You’re teasing me.”

“I am,” Sam chuckles and turns back in her seat.

“I’ve never been much for making plans…I always just go in swinging. Drives my sister crazy,” Kara scoffs before she notices Sam’s raised eyebrows. “I didn’t mean- I wasn’t talking about-“ Kara holds her breath for a moment, “-you.”

“Relax Kara.” Sam smiles. “I know.

“But if I could give you a word of advice…” Kara nods hesitantly when Sam pauses expectantly. “Don’t hurt her. Ruby looks up to her aunt like she hung the moon and the stars just for her. And the last thing you want in your life is a twelve year old that hates you. Believe me.”

\---

A little kid gets wheeled past them into the operating room when they arrive at the hospital with their coolers in hand. It makes Kara freeze in the hallway. She knew what she came here for, she knew exactly what she came here for, but suddenly, standing in the hallway, she feels like a vulture.

“She’s just a kid,” Kara whispers as the small pale face disappears through the doors.

“Yes she is,” Sam replies quietly, nudging Kara when she doesn’t stop staring at the doors. “Let’s go get her organs.”

Kara is the quiet one on the plane ride back. She stares absently out the window trying her best to ignore Sam’s attempts to make casual conversation. The more she talks, the more Kara’s jaw tightens, until everything is so tight she finally snaps.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kara’s voice shakes as she turns on Sam. “We just took organs from a little kid and you’re acting like it doesn’t even bother you!”

Kara’s vibrating in her chair, her jaw working as she glares at Sam who stares right back.

“It does bother me,” Sam finally replies. “It bothers me a lot. You don’t think I know about the tiny coffin they will bury her in? Because I know all about the tiny coffins. I see them all the time, in my sleep. You don’t think I know that there are a set of parents back there that just had to take their daughter off life support? My daughter isn’t much older than her. So yes, Kara, it bothers me.

“So, I’m going to keep talking about random things. And I’m going to keep making plans, because that’s all I can do. All I can do is make plans, and face forward to the next kid. It’s the only way you can survive this job, Kara.”

\---

There’s a moment in the surgery when everything goes wrong. The liver and bowel they painstakingly retrieved throw a clot and die in the operating room as William and Sam are in the middle of inserting it into Jackson’s abdomen. Kara has to watch as they put Jackson on a shunt. She watches as they talk quietly to Jackson’s mother. She watches as William puts him back on the UNOs transplant list. All she can do is watch as Jackson’s skin grows yellow and Sam does everything she can to help him hold on a few hours longer

“Cases like these tend to make you feel afraid, and out of control.” Cat’s voice pulls Kara out of her trance as she stands beside Kara and looks through the window into Jackson’s room. “But you still have a job to do.”

“You need to be strong, for the family.” Cat continues before Kara can stumble her way through an apology. “Go talk to the nurses, find out if they have any patients on life support that are O positive or brain dead. Find out if those patients are a match to Jackson and talk to the families.”

Kara nods, relieved to be given something to do.

“And Kara,” Cat calls after her. “You can ask. But you cannot pressure them or coerce them. Understood?”

Kara nods again in understanding.

It’s harder than she ever imagined. It is harder to ask, it is harder to hear no, and it is even harder to fight her growing desire to beg.

She pours over the computer going over cases until one catches her attention.

“His wife is going to take him off life support, but he’s not a donor,” Kara tells Cat after she hands over the folder. Automatically falling into step as Cat leads the way to the room number on the file.

Kara lingers in the corner and watches Cat approach the wife.

“I’m sorry.” The woman blinks uncomprehendingly at Cat. “What did you need?”

“We need your husband’s organs,” Cat repeats herself gently. “His liver and his bowels. There’s-“

“-leave.” The woman cuts Cat off. “Two days ago my husband left the house, healthy and happy, and then he got into a car crash and now I have to unplug him. He was supposed to be here to hold my hand when things got bad. He gets to go to heaven. I don’t want to think about this. I _can’t_ think about this.”

Cat nods and Kara’s heart sinks at another failed attempt, but Cat never moves.

“Kara, can you step outside for a moment.”

“Of course,” Kara whispers as she moves to the door, standing discretely to the side as she tries to focus on the bustle of the hospital and not the conversation happening three feet away.

“Your husband can’t take his organs to heaven,” Cat tells the woman. “Your husband’s organs are probably good _because_ he was happy and healthy and young. I understand that this is not something you want to talk about. It’s more than anyone should ever have to think about. But he can’t take his organs with him, but he can save a life.

“There’s a little boy down the hall right now that needs a new liver and bowel. He’s on a transplant list but he probably won’t make it if he has to wait much longer. Your husband could save his life.”

“Okay.” The woman wipes tears from her eyes as she nods and squeezes her husband’s hand. “Okay.”

Cat quietly thanks the woman before the leaves, finding Kara still stationed outside the door.

“How much did you overhear?”

Kara smothers a smile and shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“Good.” Cat nods her head approvingly. “Go tell Sam to prep Jackson for surgery.”

\---

Kara thrums with energy as she leaves Jackson’s room after the operation. She helped save a life. She held an organ in her hands and she helped save a little boy’s life. She walks through the hospital with no set goal in mind. Simply letting her feet guide her.

“I did a transplant,” Kara says when she finds Lena.

Lena turns towards her with a smile that shows off her dimples.

“I heard.”

“You’re not dating Sam.”

Lena almost chokes on a small laugh in her surprise. “I’m not.”

“I helped save a boy.”

“I know.”

“It was amazing.” Kara breathes, eyes wide as she stares at Lena drawn into her sparkling eyes and smile.

She doesn’t notice that she’s drifted closer until Lena’s hand on her stomach stops her.

“Not here.” Kara blinks slowly as she takes in the nurses’ station and all the passing people.

Lena steps back, moving towards the nearest on-call room. She maintains eye contact as she backs into the door, holding it open. Kara crosses the hall after her without a single thought. Following Lena inside and knocking her hand blindly behind her to lock the door.

She has Lena pressed up against the frame of the bunk beds in seconds. Kara holds her hips tight and kisses her hard, nipping at her bottom lip before she licks into her mouth. It’s messy and hot and Lena gives as good as she gets, making Kara whine when she sucks on her tongue. She feels warm to the touch and suddenly Kara feels desperate, wanting to be closer. Her hands push at Lena’s top until it's bunched under her breasts, and she can spread them over Lena’s rib cage, feeling her chest expand with every breath.

“I want to make plans with you.” Kara whispers into Lena’s mouth as her thumb skates along the underside of Lena’s breast.

“What?” Lena gasps, trying to chase Kara’s mouth when she pulls away.

“Plans. Outside of work. Anything.” Kara mumbles as Lena changes course and starts kissing down her neck. “I want to make plans with you.”

Lena’s hands find their way under the back of Kara’s scrubs, fingers raking down her lower back when her pager chirps.

“Ignore it,” Kara whines, and tries to kiss Lena, mouth landing along Lena’s jaw when she turns her head. Taking it in stride, Kara latches on making Lena moan.

“I can’t. It’s your sister. She’s on my service.” Kara groans, her forehead falling against Lena’s shoulder as both hands drift back down to Lena’s waist.

“There’s a café…” Lena starts as her hands come to rest on the tops of Kara’s shoulders as they try to catch their breath. “Noonan’s. I like to go there on Tuesday mornings and have brunch and do the weekly crossword puzzle. I’m usually there around 10.”

“I love Noonan's,” Kara whispers into Lena’s shoulder. “They have the best sticky buns.”

Lena laughs as she pushes Kara backwards, giving herself the space to fix her scrubs and quickly redo her bun. “Then there’s a pretty good chance we’ll run into each other there eventually.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr @mrsluthordanvers


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